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Not sure why but out here in Calif everybody calls them "Beamers" with a long e. I had never heard of the name bimmer until I began reading the BMW forums.

Say it however you please and at anyone pretentious enough to try to correct you.

There's a whole big story about BMW motorcycles being referred to as "beemers/beamers" because of a nickname of one of their rivals at the time, and then the cars being called "bimmers" to differentiate them.

But the reality is that they're both slang terms/nicknames, and as such, there's no authority that can definitively state that one is "wrong" and one is "right".

If you want to be in the good graces of the hard core BMWphiles, refer to a BMW car as a bimmer and a BMW motorcycle as a beemer. But if you have more important things to worry about in life, then use whatever term you prefer.